Enterprise Resource Planning Blog Posts by SAP
cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Read only

Is it time for an SAP S/4HANA Upgrade? And is it really necessary?

elizabeth_cusack
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
‎2020 Jun 15 3:05 PM
29,040

Latest update Sept 2025: Update section of 'How to Prepare and What to pay attention to': add SAP Release Navigator.
Update Jan 2025: Update section of 'How to Prepare and What to pay attention to': add SAP Activate for RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition - Upgrade.
Update March 2024: Updated Business performance optimization section: SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition is generally available and so SAP Innovation Optimization Pathfinder on Spotlight was retired on February 15, 2024.
Update November 2023: Added links for SAP S/4HANA 2023 and updated SAP Fiori Front End Server upgrade path.
Update July 2023:  Added links and content for SAP Enterprise Support learning programs. Reflected recent changes in the release strategy and maintenance cycles. Added info about self-service Run SAP Fiori Upgrade Impact Analysis and SAP S/4HANA 2022 release.
Update January 2022: Added links about release 2021 and removed info about SAP Fiori Apps Recommendation report, which was discontinued in Q4 2021.
Update September 2021: Added info about a new e-learning including innovations per line of business introduced in SAP S/4HANA 2020 release.


Think time flies? Well, it certainly feels that way in our industry! Back in November 2020 it was a whole decade since SAP shipped the first version of the SAP HANA database. Since then thousands of companies around the world have benefited from using our revolutionary in-memory database technology.

At the same time, in Q4 2022 we celebrated seven years since SAP released the first version of our new generation ERP solution - SAP S/4HANA (version 1511). While some customers are still evaluating and planning their transition to SAP S/4HANA, many have been using it for some years already.  For those customers on one of the earlier releases (e.g. 1709, 1809, etc.), the question of upgrade is becoming increasingly important.

There is huge interest in this topic, reflected in the heavy stream of questions that we are receiving from SAP Enterprise Support customers from around the world in the value map for SAP S/4HANA**. Therefore, our SAP Enterprise Support team have put together this blog post to share information which we hope will enable you to make an informed decision and prepare for your SAP S/4HANA upgrade project.

Below, we would like to draw your attention to some important topics, tools and knowledge resources which should help you to upgrade your SAP S/4HANA system successfully. However, there may be additional aspects you need to consider. In 2020 SAP released the document Upgrading SAP S/4HANA: Why, How, and Best Practices (continuously updated) which complements the Upgrade Guide and explains in more detail some topics already mentioned in this blog post and many additional topics related to SAP S/4HANA upgrade that will be of interest to you.

The latest version of the guide includes:

  • New lessons learned and guidance for upgrades to SAP S/4HANA 2023
  • Updated release strategy and compatibility scope through to 2025
  • Specific insights and recommendations for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
  • Highlights of new tools, including Readiness Check for Upgrades and SAP Fiori Upgrade Impact Analysis
  • Information on the general availability of ZDO (Zero Downtime Option) for speedier upgrades
  • Approaches to UX Adoption planning during and/or after the upgrade
  • Considerations for Clean Core steps to facilitate future upgrades


1.jpg 

 

WHY UPGRADE?

Release strategy and Maintenance cycles

To understand the reasons why you may need to update your SAP S/4HANA system, it makes sense to start with a reminder about the SAP S/4HANA release strategy. As it is stated in the SAP Release and Maintenance Strategy document:

  • SAP S/4HANA generally provides innovations on a regular basis through releases and feature packages.
  • The last feature package stack (FPS) for a given release before a new release is shipped is usually the starting point of the maintenance-only phase.
  • During a maintenance-only phase, SAP generally provides corrections but no new innovations for the release.
  • After the end of mainstream maintenance, the release usually enters customer-specific maintenance. However, as announced in September 2022, SAP offers extended maintenance for the product versions SAP S/4HANA 1709, SAP S/4HANA 1809, and SAP S/4HANA 1909 from January 1, 2023 until December 31, 2025. You can find details about extended maintenance for SAP S/4HANA in SAP Note 3246630.


Timewise, SAP currently provides the following maintenance:

    • For releases up to and including 2022:
      • Mainstream maintenance of about 5 years with 2 Feature Packages during the period.
    • For releases from 2023 onward:
      • One product version for every second year
      • Seven years of mainstream maintenance with 3 Feature Packages during the period.

You can see a picture illustrating these principles below:

 

It means that for SAP S/4HANA 1709, 1809, and 1909 on-premise customers: if you do not want to opt for the extended maintenance, and want to keep the system under mainstream maintenance, you need to upgrade to a higher release before 2023 (for 1709 customers), or 2024 (for 1809 customers), or 2025 (for 1909 customers). Note, that if the SAP S/4HANA starting release is already in customer-specific maintenance, a two-step or multistep upgrade may be required; for more information on this scenario, see the Product Availability Matrix (PAM).

The end of mainstream maintenance dates for every release can be found in PAM as well.

Important reminder: on February 4, 2020, SAP announced a maintenance commitment for SAP S/4HANA until the end of 2040. See related press release and SAP Note 2900388.

Landscape simplification

With the evolution of SAP S/4HANA, some of the products, or part of products of SAP Business Suite (such as SAP CRM or SAP SRM) are now available in SAP S/4HANA.


If you are using those products as standalone systems, you may want to take the opportunity of simplifying your current landscape. This could be another driving factor behind your decision to upgrade to a newer SAP S/4HANA release.

However, it's crucial to assess the pros and cons of integrating these systems within or outside of your SAP S/4HANA upgrade project. Additionally, you should verify the availability of all necessary features in the embedded products, as there may be differences compared to the standalone versions.

For example, you could consider using the embedded SAP EWM or SAP TM functionalities in SAP S/4HANA. For more details, refer to the SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP Supply Chain Management Solutions

Alternatively, you might choose to discontinue using a standalone SAP Fiori front-end server and transition to an embedded deployment, which is the recommended option by SAP. More information is available in the SAP Fiori Deployment Options and System Landscape Recommendations document or other resources mentioned in ‘SAP Fiori upgrade’ chapter of this post below.

New features and functions

Another compelling reason to upgrade your SAP S/4HANA system is to meet new business requirements by leveraging innovations, new features, and additional functionalities available in the latest product versions.

Let’s explore the tools that can assist you in answering the following important questions:

  • What new features and changes are introduced in the latest SAP S/4HANA version?
  • Which of these new features are relevant to your business needs?

What’s New Viewer

If you want to stay updated on the new, modified, and removed features in the latest versions of SAP S/4HANA, Look no further than the What’s New Viewer on the SAP Help Portal. With this comprehensive tool, you can select specific SAP S/4HANA versions and explore the changes made to this version. Additionally, you have the ability to filter by line of business, solution area, change type, and scope item in multiple languages. This ensures you can easily find the information you need.

03.Whats new viewer.jpg

You can also download the complete list of changes for a specific SAP S/4HANA version or support package in PDF or HTML formats,  These downloads are available through the links on the Additional Formats page on the SAP Help Portal.

04.whats new viewer 2.jpg

Simplification Item Catalog

Delta simplifications between SAP S/4HANA source and target versions can be found in the Simplification Item Catalog. You can use additional filters to see only those items you are interested in. You can refine your search with additional filters to view only the items relevant to you. For example, filter by simplification item category to tailor the results to your needs.

05.SIC.jpg

Business Performance Optimization

Another useful tool is the SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition. This service is available for all customers on SAP maintenance and provides recommendations that are based on the way you are using your SAP S/4HANA system today. Besides tailor-made recommendations on areas of business process improvements and IT optimization potential for your SAP S/4HANA system, it also shows relevant SAP innovations available in newer releases. 

In the example below, you can see how this service assesses performance and identifies areas for improvement for the end-to-end process in an SAP S/4HANA system.

Pic_1.jpg

For more information about SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition, please refer to this overview presentation. To understand how you to order the report, please take a look at the how-to guide.

Additionally, you can listen to this SAP Enterprise Support e-learning * to learn how to explore and understand SAP Signavio Process Insights, discovery edition. 

* Before you can access the e-learning , a one-time registration in SAP Learning Hub, edition for SAP Enterprise Support, is required. A detailed step-by step guide to registration can be found here.

If you're interested in delving deeper into your existing business processes and learning how to enhance their efficiency to reduce costs, you can find guidance and relevant resources in the SAP Enterprise Support value map for Business Transformation Management.

SAP Fiori Upgrade Impact Analysis 

To discover which SAP Fiori apps available in the latest SAP S/4HANA release are potentially relevant for you, use the self-service Run SAP Fiori Upgrade Impact Analysis available in the SAP Fiori App Library. For more details about this tool, refer to the "Learn More" link (see image below).

To be inspired by the SAP Fiori apps that deliver the best new business value, be sure to review the SAP Fiori lighthouse scenarios.

If you’re interested in diving deeper into the SAP Fiori topic, you can find extensive guidance and relevant resources in the SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP Business Technology Platform.


HOW TO PREPARE AND WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO?

Now it is clear why you need to upgrade your SAP S/4HANA system, it is key to prepare for the upgrade properly.

Release Navigator for SAP Cloud ERP Private

SAP Enterprise Support introduced the release navigator for SAP Cloud ERP Private in June 2025 to assist you in preparing for upgrades. This comprehensive digital library offers up-to-date release information and enablement content, strategically organized for ease of access. The release navigator provides valuable guidance on release timelines, introducing insights into new feature enablement, and supports the change management process. By staying informed on upcoming releases, organizations are better equipped to navigate the complexities of ERP Private software upgrades. 

Access the Release Navigator for SAP Cloud ERP Private

08.Release Navigator.jpg

For SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition customers, we highly recommend exploring the SAP Activate SAP Cloud ERP Private - Upgrade in the  SAP road map viewer , especially if you have limited experience in upgrading SAP systems. This provides a comprehensive overview of the activities, tasks, and deliverables associated with an upgrade project. 

The roadmap content is organized into manageable sections, assigned to different phases, workstreams, and other criteria, making it easier to navigate. You can filter various tags to display content relevant to your current activities and landscape.

09.Activate for PCE upgrade.jpg

In the roadmap, you can find detailed description of each project step.

10.Activate - RC.jpg

For SAP S/4HANA on premise customers, you can explore SAP Activate Methodology for SAP S/4HANA Upgrades.

11.Activate for OP.jpg


SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades

SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA is a self-service tool to help customers assess the current state of an existing SAP ERP system in preparation for the move to SAP S/4HANA. We are happy to inform you that since June 7th, 2021 it can be used for SAP S/4HANA upgrade scenario.

SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades includes the following checks:

    • Simplification Items
    • Compatibility Scope Analysis
    • Recommended SAP Fiori Apps
    • Integration
    • Custom Code Analysis
    • SAP Innovative Business Solutions
    • Add-on Compatibility

12.RC.jpg
Follow these links for more information on the available checks and how to implement and execute SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades:


Upgrade Guide
An essential document for your SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition upgrade project is the Upgrade Guide. You can easily access it from the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition product page on the SAP Help Portal. Refer to the image below for navigation instructions:

13.PCE Upgrade guide.jpg

For SAP S/4HANA on premise customers, you can download the ‘Upgrade Guide’ from the SAP S/4HANA Product page on the SAP Help Portal, under the ‘Implement’  section.

Simplification Item Check

The other important topic which you cannot skip in an SAP S/4HANA upgrade project is the Simplification Item Check.
The Simplification Item Check performs the relevancy and consistency checks based on the content in the Simplification Item Catalog. It analyzes your system with respect to what functionality you use, what transactions you call, what customizing you have etc. And based on this information it shows which functionality you are currently using has been changed in your target SAP S/4HANA release.
The Simplification Item Check is a mandatory check which will be called by Software Update Manager (SUM) when you start the upgrade process. And if there is any error, SUM will stop the process right before the technical downtime until all the issues are fixed. Therefore, it is critical to get Simplification Item Check results on early stages of your project and resolve all identified issues before the upgrade of your productive SAP S/4HANA system.
The Simplification Item Check is done by executing the report /SDF/RC_START_CHECK in your productive SAP S/4HANA system (client 000). You can run it as many times as you need. We recommend you to watch the recording of the meet-the-expert (MTE) session SAP S/4HANA Simplification Item Check Explained * to get familiar with the Simplification Item Check.

*Before you can access the MTE session, a one-time registration in SAP Learning Hub, edition for SAP Enterprise Support, is required. A detailed step-by step guide to registration can be found here.

See other useful resources about Simplification Item Check at the end of this blog post.

Custom code adaptation

When looking for information about resources and tools which can help you in preparing your custom code for newer SAP S/4HANA releases, it is good to know that for upgrades within the SAP S/4HANA product family, the process and tools are the same as for the SAP S/4HANA system conversion.
Therefore, for example, the following very good SAP Community blog post of Olga Dolinskaja is relevant and recommended to read: https://blogs.sap.com/2017/02/15/sap-s4hana-system-conversion-custom-code-adaptation-process/
You can also find useful information in the Custom Code Migration Guide available on the SAP S/4HANA product page at SAP Help Portal (go to ‘Implement’ -> ‘Conversion & Upgrade Assets’ section).
It is important to understand that the custom code adaptation process is not a “one-time procedure” and must be carried out on a regular basis before and after an SAP S/4HANA upgrade project. It should be considered as the regular best practice for SAP S/4HANA as well as for SAP Business Suite and in general all other ABAP-based products.


SAP HANA upgrade (for SAP S/4HANA on premise customers only)

It is possible that the current version of the SAP HANA database used in your SAP S/4HANA system is not supported by your target SAP S/4HANA version. Therefore, it is essential to check and ensure that your SAP HANA version is compatible with your target SAP S/4HANA version before initiating the upgrade.

For example, for SAP S/4HANA 2022 FPS00, the minimum required SAP HANA revision is 2.0 SPS05 revision 59.03 or Support Package 06 Revision 63.00 (See SAP note 3226530).

If you need to upgrade from SAP HANA 1.0 to 2.0, you can find a lot of useful details in the recording of SAP Enterprise Support meet-the-expert (MTE) session Upgrading SAP HANA 1 to SAP HANA 2: Key steps and recommendations *.

* Before you can access the MTE session, a one-time registration in SAP Learning Hub, edition for SAP Enterprise Support, is required. A detailed step-by step guide to registration can be found here.

Other useful resources:

 SAP Fiori upgrade

SAP S/4HANA upgrade often goes together with update of the following components:

    • SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA
    • SAP Fiori front-end server (FES)

It is important to understand that there is a strict dependency between the SAP S/4HANA backend version and the SAP Fiori for SAP S/4HANA version that contains the SAP Fiori apps. There is also a required minimum version of the SAP Fiori front-end server (FES), although higher versions of the FES are usually possible as explained in this blog post.


Pic_4.jpg

Also, if you are currently using a standalone SAP FES system as a frontend for SAP S/4HANA (hub deployment) you should consider migrating it to an embedded deployment which is the recommended option since December 2017.

You can find more information in the resources below:

HOW SAP ENTERPRISE SUPPORT CAN HELP YOU!

Learning Program

In SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA and SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, we have created tailored learning programs to help your upgrade journey. The learning program can be found under the 'Upgrade' section of the overview page in each value map.

Pic_5.jpg

Let's take a look at the learning program: Understand how to upgrade with SAP S/4HANA.

(For customers who are running SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, please check another learning program: Understand how to upgrade with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition).

Before you can access the learning program, a one-time registration in SAP Learning Hub, edition for SAP Enterprise Support, is required. A detailed step-by step guide to registration can be found here.

The learning program helps you understand why and how to upgrade with your SAP S/4HANA to a higher release. It includes the curriculum of meet-the-expert (MTE) sessions for SAP S/4HANA upgrade and SAP Fiori considerations during such upgrades, as well as an e-learning of SAP S/4HANA Upgrade – Unlock Innovation, from which you will get an overview of innovations per line of business introduced in SAP S/4HANA 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 releases. 


 With this learning program, you will:

    • Understand when and why you need to upgrade with SAP S/4HANA.
    • Get an overview of the tools to help with your upgrade. Know which tool tells you about the new, changed and deleted features and functions in a higher release of SAP S/4HANA.
    • Gain insight into key SAP Fiori considerations for an SAP S/4HANA upgrade. Learn how to analyze the upgrade impacts of Fiori apps. Find the changes in SAP Fiori apps between SAP S/4HANA releases.
    • Learn how to prepare for an SAP S/4HANA upgrade project


Continuous Quality Check (CQC) remote services

Besides the learning program to empower your knowledge on the preparation of an upgrade, there are several continuous quality check services which can help you minimize risks of unforeseen technical issues during the upgrade of your productive SAP S/4HANA system. You can find details and guidance in the Release Upgrade section of Continuous Quality Checks page in SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA or SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.

Pic_6.jpg



Feel free to ask your questions regarding SAP S/4HANA upgrades in our **value map. We will be happy to help you. 

 

USEFUL LINKS:

Important notes for upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2023:

Important notes for upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2022:

Important notes for upgrade to SAP S/4HANA 2021:

Simplification Item Check:

SAP Readiness Check for SAP S/4HANA upgrades:


INTERESTED IN SIMILAR BLOG POSTS?

For more content like this, and the opportunity to ask questions directly of our SAP S/4HANA experts, join the SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA today!

The SAP Enterprise Support value maps provide self-paced learnings, expert-led live sessions, collaborative forums, and access to SAP experts; all included as part of your SAP cloud solution subscription.

**HOW TO ACCESS VALUE MAPS?


3 Easy Steps: 

  1. One-time sign-up for SAP Learning Hub, edition for SAP Enterprise Support, is required
  2. Access value maps
  3. Navigate to the SAP Enterprise Support value map for SAP S/4HANA or SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.


Any questions, please contact us: sapesvaluemaps@sap.com

 

6 Comments